"What do you mean 'Who am I talking about?'" Verar's hushed tones were growing in volume with each word. The panic in his voice adding a shrill of it's own. "It's HIM. And they've sent him to get you, you really should lay low. The Deathsong Mariachi is bad news my friend..."
Matith gave his usual sneer. "That bloke? He's just a fairy tale, a myth. The boogeyman for us back-alley merchants and general scum. What's that they say he does? Sings to you right before 'e kills you? Good chance to run if you ask me..." He returned to his coin-purse, "And now you've made me lose count!" He dropped the remainder of coins back in and tightened the drawstring with a smirk. "Ah, no worries, me 'ole chum. Even if he was real, why would anyone send HIM to take out a common thief like me?"
Verar took a worried glance at the friend he considered brother. His voice had returned to a surprising calm. "That girl you took the other night was not so common.. they're saying that the servants of the house spotted you as you...er.. Invaded her skirts. It was a big house; you should have just taken the loot and gotten out of there. But no, you had to spite him, and for what?"
"The man spat at me!" Matith burst out. "All I did was look at her and he spits at me! Tells me I'd not ever 'ave the chance with his precious daughter. Well I showed 'im didn't I? Not such a virgin now is she?" He gave Verar a playful nudge in the ribs, but it did not placate the anxiety painted on his face.
"All I'm asking is for you to lay low for a while, until things blow over. You can hide out in our cellar."
"Awright, awright." Matith cut in quickly with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I just have a few things to do, a few things to pack and I'll be at your house shortly, ok?" Verar stared at him in response, Matith rolled his eyes. "It's not another score, don't worry, I'll be quick as silver." He gave a silver-toothed grin.
Verar looked at him a while longer before lowering his head and finally relaxing. "Ok... I'll see you there soon." Matith turned to go. "You'll be quick!" Verar called after him as he left.
"As silver!"
-----
It was pitch black by now. The only light that guided Matith's way was the occasional torch bracket that clung to every other house. Everyone was asleep, everything was quiet.
He laughed at the irony; it was after all the perfect chance for an assassin to strike. He grinned cheekily, "And what song would you sing to me?" he called out into the night.
His surroundings dimmed even darker, he could barely see inches from his face. He knew that the torches were still there, as he could hear the flames crackling upon the pitch. But he couldn't even see a slight shimmer of them.
The downward strum of an accoustic guitar cut through the cold air. A voice spoke through the emptiness, it's accent unusual, husky - possibly from somewhere south. "Slave to the Coin. Your death's lullaby." The sound of tapping on hollow wood followed.
Matith did not stop to ask questions. He ran. A whistle through the air chased him down and penetrated his calf. He called out in pain as he lost a step and tumbled to the hard dirt ground.
The voice sung, the guitar strummed.
"He never thought twice He took from young and from old Had a composure like ice And a penchant for gold"
Matith ripped out the dart embeded in his calf and got to his feet. The music kept playing, a haunting trill of bittersweet notes. He limped as fast as he could. Another whistle through the air brought him to the ground once again.
The song played on.
"His takings went on No end to his plunder But soon after dawn He'll be six feet under.
And why?" The voice asked during a pause in the song.
"Stop it!" Matith screamed out in a trembling voice, he tore the other dart out and threw it in a random direction. He could feel his blood escaping his body. He was cold, weak and drowsy. But he had to get away - he began crawling through the empty abyss. Tears stung his eyes and dampened his face. "Leave me alone!"
The music returned, but it had taken on a different tone. Intensified by some emotion, louder, faster – closer.
”He took that girl He raped and he bruised her-“
Another whistle sliced through the air, followed by a short cry of pain.
”He got under her skin The bastard abused her”
Another and another. No pause in the music.
”He’s a slave to the coin And he sated his loins”
The music notably slowed down, the pauses between strums drawing out longer.
”Now there’s nothing else to do The devil’s come for you.”
Matith got up on his knees, blood seeping from gaping wounds, tears streaming from sobbing eyes. “Please!” He pleaded. “I won’t do it again. I’ll change my ways!” Someone was behind him, but how did that blade get to his neck so quickly?
“There are consequences for what you do.” The song had reached its extro. His voice was right by his ear, almost soothing. “The devil’s come for you.”
The song ended.
***********************************
Hey everyone. I promise, I promise, I promise to make the revisions on my other builds after this. But first, may I present to you, the Deathsong Mariachi.
This guy is all about the de-buffs. Doing everything possible to degrade the enemy to a whithering mass before the final death blow. Party a must.
Feats and Stat Progression [1]B1: Artist [2]B2 [3]B3: Weapon Finesse [4]B4: +CHA [5]B5 [6]A1: Weapon Proficiency Exotic [7]B6 [8]B7: +CHA [9]B8: Curse Song [10]A2 [11]A3 [12]A4: Weapon Focus Kama +DEX [13]A5 [14]B9 [15]B10: Improved Critical Kama [16]A6: +DEX [17]A7 [18]A8: Skill Focus - Perform [19]A9 [20]A10: +CHA [21]B11: Epic Weapon Focus Kama [22]B12 [23]B13 [24]A11: Great Charisma +CHA [25]A12 [26]A13 [27]A14: Great Dexterity, Great Charisma [28]A15: +DEX [29]B14 [30]B15: Lingering Song [31]B16 [32]B17: +DEX [33]B18: Great Dexterity [34]A16 [35]A17 [36]A18: Great Dexterity, Improved Sneak Attack +DEX [37]A19 [38]A20 [39]A21: Improved Sneak Attack [40]A22: Great Dexterity +DEX
Final Statistics
Naked + Mundane Kama AB - +34/+29/+24 Damage - 1-6 +1 (Critical: 19-20/x2) Fort - 17 Reflex - 31 Will - 19 Base Attack - 24 AC - 25
Equipment /w +7 Kama(No Keen) DEX - 36 CHA - 27 AB - +47/+42/+37 Reflex - 37 AC - 51
Final stats can obviously vary depending on the equipment used and what buffs are active. My heart isn't really set on Kama, so if anyone has better suggestions I'm all ears. I'm sure the obligatory Kukri will pop up .
Well that's all for now I suppose. While you deliberate on the fine-tuning of the build, please enjoy the epilogue
***********************************
Article from the "Harbinger" the next day
MURDER IN THE NIGHT!
Earlier this morning Town Guard Evorn Shae found the body of local townsman Matith Strumn. The body was completely cold when found suggesting the murder took place in the late hours of the night.
According the Head Guard Orval Kercius, the murder had occured during a shift change in the guard's patrol routes. "It definately was a professional job - messy, but professional. The man knew what he was doing." Stated Kercius on the circumstances of Strumn's death. "We have no suspects yet, but the case is being worked on as we speak."
Matith Strumn, 28 - was a renowned thief though he was never caught for lack of evidence. "A rotten man he was." States a neighbor, "Couldn't hold a job for the life of him!". Strumn made many enemies in his life so it is a wonder if Town Officials will continue the investigation for very much longer.
One thing remains certain. There's no love lost for the death of a thief.
Annabrae Sheroni"
Added final ability scores - Kail Pendragon
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 10/12/07 15:10
Nice concept, nice story!
Results from pulse cap's build searcher: The Hypocritical Songmistress /Bard 8/SD 10/Assassin 22 by Drallimer The Singing Assassin /Bard 16/Assassin 15/Fighter 9 by FinneousPJ
There are actually two more Bard/Assassin builds, but they were AAs so I decided not to include them here.
A third class wouldn't hurt your build, BTW. _________________ "And one calculates time from the dies nefastus on which this fatality arose – from the first day of Christianity! – Why not rather from its last? – From today? – Revaluation of all values!"
So why not a Rapier? With Elf you start with the proficiency, and it's still Finessable. This frees up a feat, which if you also dropped Artist, can net you KD/IKD. Very useful for generating extra Death Attacks. I'd go Spellcraft instead of Heal for the bonuses to saves. It's a shame you can't get Evasion/ Imp Evasion in there somehow, but it's not the end of the world either.
As far as a 3rd class goes, that's a tough one. Rogue comes to mind, but it's pretty redundant (except for Evasion). Fighter level brings extra feats, and WS/EWS. Blackguard would add to your saves, but cost you 2 feats. Probably not worthwhile.
First of all. You don't dual-wield. Spend your Exotic feat on shield prof, and use rapier for a weapon. A shield, if you use a large one, gives you a nice boost to AC without hampering skills to much. Just remove the shield when it's buffing time. As for a third class, could be nice but not necessary. Only wizard can prevent xp-penalty.
Now for the story. Thank you. Well written, and good to read one again. _________________ Dragonlance ROH is back, better than before! and I spend a little time here WoG
I was thinking of Barbarian, you get a STR/CON buff once per day & speed boost or Ranger, which gets a bonus feat and Trackless Step as well as dual-wield, or Monk for WIS AC and Evasion. These are all received on the first level. _________________ "And one calculates time from the dies nefastus on which this fatality arose – from the first day of Christianity! – Why not rather from its last? – From today? – Revaluation of all values!"
Edited By FinneousPJ on 04/14/06 10:20
His Wisdom's 8, so it'd be just for the feats (which, granted, include Evasion/ Flurry/ Cleave AND you don't waste a feat using your kama...). Barbarian's nice for the bonus to stats (not spectacular, mind you).
His Wisdom's 8, so it'd be just for the feats (which, granted, include Evasion/ Flurry/ Cleave AND you don't waste a feat using your kama...). Barbarian's nice for the bonus to stats (not spectacular, mind you).
Still it wouldn't hurt. Also, gulping a potion of Owl's Wisdom'd give +1 AC with Monk _________________ "And one calculates time from the dies nefastus on which this fatality arose – from the first day of Christianity! – Why not rather from its last? – From today? – Revaluation of all values!"
Good point (goes for any +Wisdom items).
But, this just occured to me, he'd require an alignment shift. Which may or may not be a big deal, depending where you play.
For Monk, true. However, Ranger and Barbarian still remain viable choices. Two levels of Rogue gives Evasion, as stated. For that matter, the difference between Bard 18 and 16 is quite minimal. _________________ "And one calculates time from the dies nefastus on which this fatality arose – from the first day of Christianity! – Why not rather from its last? – From today? – Revaluation of all values!"
Edited By FinneousPJ on 04/14/06 11:49
(If he's fine with an alignment change I'd even throw out CoT for the "Wait, did he just Lay on Hands?!" factor alone. Monk still remans a better choice, mind you.)
With Rogue he's not losing anything, skillpoint wise. He also picks up Evasion and +1d6 sneaks.
Barbarian sees a speed increase (meh), and Rage. It's neat, I guess.
Ranger nets TWF/Ambidexterity, and a couple points BAB. This option doesn't bother me, but it's not amazing either.
Monk, alignment shift aside, would be great.
Fighter gets you an extra feat, and some BAB goodness. And Weapon Spec.
There's RDD, which again doesn't excite me terribly. Low buy-in (Lore 8 ) for moderate returns (given you'll probably only take a few levels of it without reshaping the build around it).
Palemaster, see above.
Everyone loves Shadowdancer. Unfortunately, not everyone loves spending 2 feats to get it.
Slim pickings if you ask me.
Edited By VladTheInstaller on 04/14/06 12:23
I'd pick the Ranger level in epic, personally, and take Epic Prowess or somesuch. The main point is the bonus feat, and when you're taking only one level I am positive Ranger has more to give than Fighter.
Moving to the field of PrCs, one level of RDD gives +1 AC, another level adds +2 STR. One level of PM adds +2 AC, which is a good choice IMO. _________________ "And one calculates time from the dies nefastus on which this fatality arose – from the first day of Christianity! – Why not rather from its last? – From today? – Revaluation of all values!"
Edited By FinneousPJ on 04/14/06 12:36
Nice story, I had the time to read this time.
Not everyone loves Shadowdancer........... right?
I like to step in Dwarven Defender as much as I can, however, since you already have Uncanny, it would be completely useless.
Ehm.... a Harper Scout could buff CHA and DEX pretty well (maybe even attempt to lower your base CHA), although it would be hard to take in Alertness and Iron Will. I would take them instead of Artist and Skill Focus, as for powerbuild, but you can't take that away from a Mariachi.
The monk would be great, just 1 level for Evasion, the bonus APR, free Cleave, and a bonus feat instead of Exotic, maybe for Blind-Fight or something, as a shield would interrupt Monk bonuses.
Thanks for all the support and suggestions to everyone:
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